News detail

Wed, Jan 19 2011: AND THE WINNER IS... WATAIN!

Shouting stars WATAIN just won the national Grammy Award in the Hard Rock category! The ceremony was held at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, Sweden, last Monday. Congratulations, guys!

Here is the full comment of frontman Erik Danielsson: "I always pictured the criteria for entering the Grammy awards to be those of mainstream music in general; conformity, insipidity and commercial potential. In other words, I was quite surprised when we even got nominated. But considering all the blood, sweat and tears we have put into this our life's mission during the past 13 years, it is by all means an award well deserved. And no matter what the parameters were by which the jury made their decision; the Devil won again!

"Even if this music genre will always be one with adversity and wildhearted insanity as its very roots, the artistic value must be acknowledged not only on an underground level but in any cultural circumstance, high or low. Acknowledged I say, not necessarily appreciated. And in a country like Sweden it is about fucking time, for here it has been neglected and stupefied by the mass media for years, while legends such as Dissection and Bathory have been writing and releasing some of the most monumental albums in music history. The Grammy that we have won with Watain is a step towards rectification in that matter, and a sign of that the artistry and infernal creativity that permeates Watain and this genre is being taken seriously. For that we are proud and delighted in accepting the award. As for its market value or importance in a "music industry context" we sincerely could not care less."

In their home country, WATAIN are also nominated for the P3 Gold Awards in the "Rock / Metal" category, and for the Manifest Awards in the "Rock" category, which ceremonies take place respectively on January 22nd and February 4th.